The NESAP is Cambodia’s first major environment plan in more than a decade, and sets out a roadmap to 2023 for the country’s efforts for achieving many of its Sustainable Development Goals.

The NESAP gives a detailed analysis of the environmental situation, and outlines priority policy and governance improvements and financing mechanisms. It also includes a $260-million pipeline of current and planned donor-funded environmental projects and programs.

Work on the NESAP and a national environment code to strengthen legal frameworks for environmental management began in 2015. Both the code and the NESAP were approved by the National Council for Sustainable Development in October 2017 and in December that year, the NESAP was signed off by Cabinet.

The NESAP’s development process was overseen by a task force comprising 10 ministries. The Ministry of Environment coordinated the process with extensive support from the CEP. Multistakeholder consultations were held nationally and in provinces, involving hundreds of representatives from government agencies, civil society groups, and development organizations.

Implementing the NESAP to its full intent will be a huge challenge, requiring extensive financial and technical support, institutional capacity strengthening, and greater coordination between ministries and with other stakeholders.

The CEP is already planning its contribution to this effort. Under the program’s new 2018–2022 strategy, two large investments have been identified that will directly support the NESAP’s implementation. One will support integrated and sustainable land-use management; the other aims to improve rural environmental quality, with a focus on pollution control and waste management.

“The NESAP is a strategy for all government ministries as well as the private sector, civil society, and development partners to integrate environmental concerns into economic policies and investments.”--Say Samal, Minister of Environment, Cambodia